Accusations fly over tanker spill

November 25, 2002

MADRID, SPAIN — Spain's environment minister dismissed accusations that the country could have done more to salvage an oil tanker that spilled nearly 3 million gallons of oil and sank in the Atlantic Ocean.

Jaume Matas instead blamed the Dutch salvage company SMIT for the Prestige spill, the newspaper La Razon reported Sunday. The oil has washed up on Spanish shores, causing grave environmental damage and crippling the fishing industry.

"They are the ones who provoked the spill," Matas said. "The government has done everything possible to ... solve the problem."

The company said Spain was wrong in not providing a port where the 20 million gallons of oil could have been drained.